I am emailing to announce the start of the NHS Milton Keynes CCG public consultation on the future of the urgent care walk-in service at Broughton Gate Heath Centre. The public consultation will last for 12 weeks from Monday 15 February to Monday 2 May 2016.

We are keen to make sure that services for local people offer the best care possible, in the most appropriate place, at the right time.

Alongside wider work in progress to look at the way we provide healthcare services in Milton Keynes, we have been looking at how we can integrate Urgent Care and GP out-of-hours with the local A&E department to deliver a better urgent care service.

The vision for urgent and emergency care provision must be for a system that is as straightforward as possible, with patients aware of and able to access appropriate high quality clinical care and support at the right time and in the right place. By integrating urgent care service into a single point of access, urgent care services will be easier to navigate meaning that patients will see the most appropriate clinician at the right time.

We are also thinking about the walk-in service that is part of the GP-led health centre at Broughton Gate. The contract for this service will expire later this year so we want to think about what kind of walk-in service local people would like in the future. This includes where the walk-in service is, and what hours it is open.

The GP services provided at Broughton Gate health centre will remain as they are now; it is only the urgent care walk in service that is being reviewed.

It’s really important that we understand local people’s views when we make decisions about the future service. You can have your say online at:

Printed copies of the consultation document and questionnaire will also be available and we expect to distribute them to GP surgeries, and a range of community settings over the period of the consultation. The consultation survey has a Freepost return address.

Public meetings will also be held during the consultation period where people can meet with health leaders and discuss their views. There is no need to register for the drop in events, just turn up between the hours of 3pm and 6pm to one of the following venues:

If you would like to be sent a printed copy of the consultation document, please call 0116 295 4183.

We would be grateful if you would take a few moments to complete the online questionnaire and also cascade the information about how to get involved in this consultation to service users, staff, family and friends who live in the CCG area.